Investors are raising the red flag as some foreign government and conservations and animal rights groups intensify a campaign to tighten the noose on trophy smuggling
By TOM MOSOBA
A seemingly innocent and procedural proposal by the government to sell 90 tonnes of its ivory stockpiles has taken an unexpected twist that could return to haunt the nation in the long run.
Keen on pushing through with the sale to raise an estimated $15 million in much needed revenues, the government has, however, come under severe criticism that is threatening the country’s image in the international arena.
Interestingly, even though Zambia has made a similar proposal, it is Tanzania that has attracted much of the scrutiny, with influential media in the UK and US accusing the country of seeking to abet elephant poaching and illegal trade in banned trophy.
Alarmed by the negative portrayal in the campaign to block Tanzania and Zambia, tourism investors are warning that the matter could destabilise the fledging tourism sector.
The investors are raising the red-flag as some foreign governments and conservation and animal rights groups converge on a platform to intensify calls to tighten the noose on ivory trade and smuggling to stop elephant poaching.
The chairman of the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (Zati) Mr Mohammed Simai says that the campaign will impede Tanzania’s efforts in recent years to promote tourism, including game viewing in prominent national game reserves like Selous, Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
“As private investors in tourism, we are foreseeing problems in this push to sell ivory. The choice of our game reserves as preferred destinations by high end tourists from the UK and US will be undermined by campaigns linking the country with elephant killing and smuggling,” warned Mr Simani.
He told The Citizen that Zati members on Wednesday wrote to the Union and Zanzibar Governments to urge for shelving of the proposal to sell the 90 tonnes of ivory for the sake of avoiding negative publicity that will hurt the industry.
“We are urging President Jakaya Kikwete to intervene and stop the move to sell the ivory,”Mr Simani said in a telephone interview from Zanzibar. He said the furore that followed the revelation did not portend well with tourism promotion and regional trade objectives.
He said Zati as a member of the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT) has forwarded its concerns to the agency and demanded that prudent decisions to safeguard the country’s tourism image be taken over the ivory saga.
“Some international environmental and animal protection campaigners are already sending warnings that Tanzania risked blacklisting as a preferred game viewing spot if it pushed through the sale of seized elephant tusks,” cautioned Mr Simani.
The TCT executive secretary Mr Richard Rugimbana confirmed on Wednesday that the body had held a meeting of members over the matter but said no concrete outcome had been reached.
“We are still consulting and have not come to a common position with the many other authorities involved,” Mr Rugimbana said.
Mr Simani warned that the tourism sector that was recovering from a decline caused by the global economic crisis last year does not deserve another round of controversy. “I urge the government to act on the long term interest of this vital sector and drop its case at the Cites meeting,” he said.
The Zati chairman noted that the $15 million envisaged from the sale was a drop in the sea compared to potential tourism arrival loses were campaigners to dissuade visitors from touring due to poaching and smuggling concerns. Tanzania earned $1.3 billion (Sh1.6 trillion) in 2008 from 642,000 tourists to account for 17.2 per cent of the GDP.
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